Ezrae gazed around him,at the circle of wide-eyed children gathered around the fire, their faces lit by the flickering flames. With a dramatic flourish, he lowered his hands and the fire slowly died out, simmering down into crackling embers.
The children were rapt, hanging on his every word, and as the flames began to die down, since the night had grown late, they begged him, ravenously, for just a few more minutes. Like beasts hungry for meat, the children hounded Ezrae for "Just Five More Minutes."
Little Shebuel was the most insistent of all, tugging at his sleeve, almost pulling him to the ground, and begging him to continue. "Please, Please, PLEASE, Papa Ezrae!!!" He implored, his eyes wide and pleading. "I have to know what happens next! You can't end the story in such a way!"
Ezrae laughed, but there was a note of sadness in his voice. "I'm sorry, little one, but we have to call it a night. Worry not, that isn't the end of the story. There is still much to be told.
However, your parents will be after me, if I keep you up any later. And your Grandpa will make me clean everyone's underwear!!!" He laughed with the children, as he grabbed Shebuel and tickled him until he begged him to stop.
As the children slowly dispersed, with their heads bowed, sad and tired; He watched them go, with a heavy heart. Ezrae loved nothing more than telling stories to these young ones, as he called them, "Se Talitha Yah," "The Children of Yahweh.," but it was always bittersweet to see them return to their families; and leave him alone once again… With nothing but his thoughts.
With a sigh, Ezrae rose from his spot by the fire, and walked over to the edge of the Red Sea. With a slightly dramatic whirl of his staff, he drew up the waters of the sea to douse the embers, feeling the cool liquid soothe his tired hands, and it flowed around them, and his staff.
As he made his way back to his own tent, he couldn't help but feel a pang of loneliness. Ezrae was a solitary figure, a man who had never married, or had any children of his own.
He had always been content with his life, but he would be lying if he said there were never moments when he longed for companionship… for someone to share his stories with.
As he lay down on his mat, with his simple blanket and pillow, and stared up at the ceiling of his tent; Ezrae's thoughts drifted back to a time long ago; when he had been young and foolish. He had loved a girl then… a beautiful girl, named Shelomith… And the memories of her, and that love he had, STILL haunted him.
He closed his eyes and let the memories wash over him. He remembered the way her dark hair had fallen in loose curls around her face, the way her eyes had sparkled, when she laughed; and her nose would Kringle up whenever he said something stupid.
He remembered the way they had spent long hours talking and walking together, exploring the world around them, and dreaming of what the future would hold for them and their friends.
But it was not to be. Circumstances had conspired against them, and they had been forced to part ways… in fact, they all had parted ways, on that day… when it happened.
With a deep sigh, he reached for his staff, sitting up from his mat, and grabbing a handful of sand. Closing his eyes, he threw the sand up in the air and activated his blessings, diving into a story from his own life.
For a brief period of time, it was as if she, and all of their friends, were with him once again; and the loneliness and longing in his heart began to ease, as he recalled and reconstructed the story from that day… that fateful, horrible, day.